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tv   Greta Van Susteren  FOX News  December 26, 2012 7:00pm-8:00pm PST

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>> that's not going to stop the pledges. >> what are the pledges? >> promises. >> i don't like to make promises i can't keep. and i really don't want to have any resolutions. >> that's your resolutions. >> don't you have one more thing? >> i'm doing is right now. >> all right. >> all right. you can go on the record and i'm going to be on at 10:00. and greg is going to be on. >> i'm on. >> we are taking whoever is left in the building. [laughter] >> forget it. i have the flu. i'm going home. >> no, you're not. >> yes. >> tune in to see if greg shows up or not, if he's not too squared. chicken! check it out! >> that's it for us on "the five." thanks for watching. hope you had a very merry christmas. see you tomorrow. tonight a new hurdle in the race to avoid the fiscal cliff. the weather. a powerful winter storm blasting the nation as president obama and lawmakers try to get back to
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washington. >> all eyes turn to plan c. >> i would hope that we would have one last attempt here to do what everyone knows what needs to be done. look at the front page here. it says obama headed back to work after short vacation. >> i think the president is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. >> if we go off the cliff unimpeded, it's a $400 billion tax hike. >> outrage after a newspaper gets its hands on the names and addresses of gun permit holders and then publishes the information online. >> the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> isn't it possible that if we got rid of these, if we replaced them and said you can only have a magazine that carries five bullets or ten bullets, isn't it just possible that we could reduce the carnage in a situation like this?
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>> i don't believe that will make one difference. >> oh, my god, a tornado. >> winter weather threatening to cause major travel problems for people trying to get home after the holidays. some states dealing with snow, thunderstorms and tornadoes. >> oh, wow. oh, jesus, look at that tornado. >> tonight, john hammer is out of prison and on his way home. >> it was harrowing, because we had to jump from one bridge to another at the last minute just to get a safe place that i could take possession of him. >> this is great right now. i'm glad to be talking to you about that it's over with. i guess it's really over with. >> good evening. i'm kimberly guilfoyle in for greta. we begin with the harrowing ordeal with u.s. marine january homer jr. after spending four months in a mexican jail, often chained to his bed. he was released to his family in
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time for christmas but his story doesn't stop there. eddie joins us. >> you have been in communication with him. how is he doing? >> thank you very much for having me, kimberly. he's doing okay. they arrived to miami to their house sometime late in the evening monday. tired. they had a long drive, as you probably know. they had to run into the hospital in louisiana but he's holding up. he cannot be standing for a long time. he's taking quality time, i would call it down time to be with the family and rebudding and expecting and waiting for some tests to come back, see what the prognosis and whatever they have to heal. and mentally, of course, and emotionally and medically, as well. >> everyone is overjoyed at his release, of course, in time for christmas. but it has been an incredible ordeal for him both physically and emotionally. and his family, his mother said she couldn't rest or sleep at
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night until he was in on u.s. soil. but it took an inordinate amount of time to secure his release. many americans are wondering why this took so long and what's the truth behind why and how he was released? >> i'm glad you ask me that, kimberly. something very important to point out. first of all, it didn't really take that long considering the fact there was a trial going. what got him out, we followed of the trial. and there were a writ filed with the court to, number one, address the violations that he had committed against. the mexican violations which in our view were very grave, and two, to also address an issue the trial judge wasn't addressing, which was really the issue of his innocence because one of the elements of the crime was not there. we pushed, and we also started -- i don't want to call it negotiations.
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there were no negotiations, but talks with the incoming administration before they sat down, and we showed them the case file, we showed them the facts of the case, and showed them other cases and they were willing to listen. they told me, listen, eddie, right now it's in the judicial branch. if it comes back that the judge grants it, we're not going to apee. for that i thank them because they had the foresight and they had the wisdom, i believe to see what i saw through the case. and also he wanted to plead guilty. the trial judge and clerk were adamant for him to plead guilty to get out. but, of course, i never trusted them. and it worked out for the good, thank god. that happened, and also the legal work that went in. we were filing documents just about every other day, kimberly. let me tell you that. >> i know you were working diligently on the case and as an attorney myself i know what goes into this, especially a criminal matter and internationally it's very complicated. in your opinion what do you
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think was the turning point for the judge to actually release and make that decision? >> okay. you know, i spoke to the judge -- i can say this now. i went to see the judge five days before and i said, your honor, with all due respect, i file my first with you and the constitutional hearing, the trial in the case with that injunction took place november 8th. now we are december, i think it was december 20, 21st. it was a tuesday, i believe, december 20th. i said you waited more than six, seven weeks and you promised me you would have a solution here. now let me tell you what i'm going to do just so you know. if you deny this and give me partial relief, which is like replace the procedure and do again, we have a problem, you see, because ian, who was the translator, wasn't to be found so how can you remedy that, right, kim? >> right. >> you can't put back, once the jeanne is out of the bottle, you can't. so i said i'm ready and willing to file this case in the supreme
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court, and i promise you they will review it. there were some talks that although the justice there is cannot talk about a case, they were willing, and i believe he knew it. i don't know if i convince him, and turn out later that i guess he checked it out and turned out that is what was going to happen. having said that, he must have, you know, found. it's interesting because he never responded to my constitutional violations but that's an option we are going to decide to do, you know, down the line. justify to the element of the crime that was in there, which was the intent. let's remember, let's not lose sight of this, kim. he went in with a good faith effort because customs and border protection in the u.s. told him it was okay. in america it's legal, and with a shotgun. in mexico the first thing he did was told the mexican customs agent i want to bring in my shotgun. i believe he was already in mexico but he turned, he just
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went ahead and as he was handcuffed and taken in. >> yeah. you know, it's just a scary case. i'm sure americans at home watching this, to think about the fact you can try to follow a law and respect another country law he is, go by the book and be imprisoned in another country with how many months with you trying to work through the legal things to get him out, tireless efforts. you know, it's just disturbing on that level. but the outcome is what we are grateful for, eddie. thank you for being part of the program. >> well, let me tell you, kimberly, and i appreciate this. it wasn't only me, to be honest with you. i can just correct this two more points for people. i got my associates, i got other people in mexico city and down there. it's a team effort. yeah, i was the lead lawyer but it was great to work with many people. >> it's good of you to acknowledge them. we don't have much time. we have to wrap, eddie, by want
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to say yes, obviousry to the team, you have to work together and especially on international cases. congratulations on getting this fine american home safe. you are to be commended to the efforts of you and your other legal counsel. thanks so much. now to the quickly approaching fiscal cliff. tonight president obama and lawmakers are heading back to washington. but do they have enough time left to strike a deal in congressmen tray joins us. hi, tray, a pleasure to see you tonight. >> you too. merry christmas. >> merry christmas. unfortunately we still have the fiscal cliff looming over our head. a lot going on. talk about whether or not we can't get some kind of bipartisan approach. there is some kind of discussion that there might be a deal coming up. tell us what you know. >> i assure you that there will be a resolution either before the new year or shortly after the new year. that's the good news, that there will be a deal.
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the bad news for you and your viewers is that there won't be a solution. it will be a pan sea or some magical elixor that makes us all feel better. but shortly after we will get a letter from geithner asking us to raise the debt ceiling for the 80th time in our country's history. there will be a deal to, quote, avert the fiscal cliff. your viewers should demand more than a deal, they should demand a solution. >> do you think it's the right idea to cave in if really the republicans do not believe this is the right thing for the best interests of the country, to go ahead and agree to having more expenditures, to not cutting any of these entitlements. this reckless spending has to come to an end at some points. we have the future and the children to think of. >> so much for a balanced approach.
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the bammed approach as near as i can do do exactly what i want exactly what when i want you to do it. but the reality is the house democrats will could be he -- gt enough involvements my vote will not one of them and the group of conservatives i run with will not be among the votes that vote for the so-called deal. but it will pass and we will be arguably further from a solution than we were this time last year. >> so you think a temporary fix is going to come to pass but ultimately, like you said, you and several of your colleagues that feel very strongly about the economic future of this country will not abide by this decision? >> i can't vote for something that is a seven-day remedy. if we do exactly what the president asks us to do, it covers seven days worth of spending t does nothing on entitlement reform, it doesn't come close to reducing the deficit, much less the $16 trillion debt, soon-to-be
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$18 trillion debt. so i'm not going to vote for a pan sea. i'm not going to go around washington and hope the editorial boards are happy and pat each other on the back. your viewers ought to demand a solution. and what we are going to do in the next week is a deal. and they deserve better than a deal. >> you know what is disconcerting, the millions of americans that can't afford to go on vacation that are worried about their tack pass and finances and how to feed their family and how to write those checks for the bills that they know are coming. and yet then you have members of congress and such going on vacation, even the president himself. we would all like to go to hawaii but honestly it was very upsetting. so many people i talked to over the holidays they are saying what are they doing? they should be sitting there doing the tough work we pay them to do, representing us in their various districts and states. >> the optics are terrible, but here's the reality, kimberly. and i'm not disagreeing with the folks that told you that. but the reality is when we are in washington there's one person
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negotiating on behalf of the house and then 434 people are sitting around naming post offices or playing solitary on their computers. there's only one person who is negotiating on behalf of the house and that's john boehner. and frequently he's negotiating by himself. i'll say this, it's good for us to go home to the people we work for so we can get an earful, as i have gotten over the last three or four days, whether it's the grocery store or church or wal-mart or this morning while i was running someone stopped me and gave me an earful, which i very much need. so if you are going on vacation, then, no, it's not a good thing to leave d.c. if you are going home and getting an earful from the people you are supposed to represent and work for, then i would say it's better spent coming home to district than it is staying up there and naming post offices. >> you are right about that. congressman trey. it's always a pleasure to speak with you. thank you. >> yes, ma'am, you too. >> and tonight the gun control battle is exploding.
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a suburban new york paper publishing the names and addresses of gun owners. who who does the interactive map really put in danger? steven joins us now. hi. great to have you tonight. >> hawaii, kimberly. >> we were talking about this earlier on the five. it's an excellent discussion to have. some people feel go ahead, i'm a proud gun owner. this is my right to defend myself and my family but other people said it's invasive to have it listed. it's essentially treating legal gun owners like listing them like sex offenders, the list is public and you are pointing out on the map, when you see the red dot exactly who owns a gun and where. what are your thoughts? >> look. the question i think with respect to the newspaper is the decision to publish the names is a question of whether they should publish it or weather at the can publish it.
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i don't think there are many people saying the newspaper should have been prohibited from publishing this information or including these names or dots on this data base. the question is to what end? why did they do this? it was very clear, if you read the accompanying article and looked at the explanations that you got from the newspaper. they wanted to make what was in effect an emotional statement. there was no real argument about it. they talk to some people in the community, including several of whom they gave anonymity to. they felt like they had to publish this list but then they were quoting people anonymously saying we are afraid to live next to people living with guns. this is one of the things that editors across the country have have to decide on their own. if if you are going to make this case this, is information the public has a right to no, you should have a strong argument about why it should be known. >> that's the problem. what's the purpose? they said it wasn't an emotional decision, they wanted to list it.
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and to me i don't understand why they specifically singled out gun owners when they don't do it in other areas and you put it out to try to put a scarlet letter on your neighbor. why are people going to be afraid of their neighbor, the law-abiding neighbor that has the gun versus the bad guy come in to burglarize your home or rob you. >> i agree with you totally. if you read the article that accompanied the publication of the list, that don't make it clear. it was based on a lot of emotions. there was a shooting in one of the neighbors this paper covers. someone was shot. they didn't name the victim or the person commenting on it it. but they quoted somebody saying i don't want to live next to a gun owner. the real question is beyond the response from the one person, what is it going to do? are these people going to move because they found out their neighbor had a gun. and where in the country would you be living that you wouldn't
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be living among gun owners. and what does it do to people that live in the community that don't own gun. it advertises the tact they can't defend themselves or at least defendant themselves in that way. the list that they published did not include so-called long guns so it's possible somebody not on this list does in fact own a gun. but some people are arguing you are telling potential robbers and burglarlers who to hit. >> if you are a criminal, and you are right, trying to figure out on the map which neighborhood or area should i hit, burr towing circle the one that doesn't have the dots in it. some gun owners say i'm safe and secure, don't come to my house because you know what you are going to get. what about the other neighbors? what if they are targeted. there are legal questions that are interesting. but they had their legal right to put it forward. i just question the motive and the intent there. >> yeah. and they sure didn't make it
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clear. if you are going to do something like this, it should be to some end and they didn't make a very good argument. >> all right. steven, thank you so much. >> thank you. and straight ahead, if you thought four state department of officials got the boot over benghazi, think again. find out why you may still be signing their paychecks. ambassador john bolton is here next. but a prostitution scandal and that is just the beginning. coming up, a look at the hottest candles of 2012. stay with us.
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>> is the obama administration misleading us about benghazi again? after a scathing report, four state department officials got the boot.
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so we thought. turns out the security chief that resigns is still on the payroll and the other three workers are all expected back. so what's really going on. former u.s. ambassador john bolton joins us. good evening, ambassador. >> good evening. glad to be with you. >> people be outraged about this. this is a story that's ongoing where there have been far more questions than answers and it seems there have been almost a deliberate attempt to, by the mainstream media, to lead in the story, cover-up and not convey the truth and tell the true facts. it's only been through serious investigative reporting and journalism that we've been able to put pressure to get some answers. what do you make of the latest report? >> it's typical washington pea and walnut kind of separation. people resign from their positions, but they don't necessarily resign their employment in the government. for the head of diplomatic security, although he's a presidential appoint tee, my
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understanding is he's also part of the foreign service. so he has left that particular job, but he's still a member of the foreign service. and i think a similar situation applies to the other three people. that's something that, you know, if it were a political appoint tee as the assistant secretary, once you resign, you are gone, that's it. and that was the impression that they left when these announcements were made last week but that's obviously not what has happened. >> that's what people want to know. so they have accepted eric's decision to resign but nevertheless people are still on the payroll. there's the accountability? and it's a coverup of resignations. they don't seem to have any import behind them. the fact of the matter is it's just for show. more political coverup to say we are doing something, heads are going to roll, maybe not the heads that matter and it's --
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>> it's a lot of blue smoke and mirrors. i think what it does is it underlines the importance, whatever it turns out to be, the testimony of the secretary of state hillary clinton. she's the only one that can answer a lot of these questions. and senator bob corker of tennessee put an interesting twist on this the other day when he said she should of it before there's a new secretary of state. so certainly john kerry, who is the chairman of the foreign relations committee, now has a pretty strong incentive i think to schedule something where secretary clinton can come up and answer the many, many questions, the growing number of questions about benghazi. >> we know how this works, okay? so first of all, there was concussion. obviously we wish mrs. clinton well. seems these recovering from that. she's now expected to testify. there was a tremendous amount of public disdain about this and outcry. the american people want answers, we have four dead
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americans in situations where there were multiple failures to provide adequate security, despite the questions, and now we have some resignations that really aren't amounting to anything. don't the american people deserve more answers as to why those four men on the screen lost their lives when they were pleading for help before? >> there are a whole series of questions here that the mainstream media has done essentially nothing to help uncover. the questions for secretary clinton i think are very straightforward. what did she know, when did she know it and what did she do it before, during and after the attack? i would like to know, for example, minute by minute what she did on september 11th. who did she talk to? did she talk to the president? what did she ask happen in terms of assistance? before september 11th was she aware of the request for enhanced security? and if not, why not? this was a critical post. this was supposed to be a great success story for the obama administration in libya. this was not some embassy in
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iceland or luck i amburg where there was no terrorist threat. i think the secretary has to come up and raise her right-hand and answer these questions. >> absolutely. especially in light of the intelligence reports we were receiving that they were in the area, they were active and that was not an area that was peaceful, it was still hostile and needed to be treated appropriately with adequate security. when you send people overseas with their lives to do something 20 protect this country, we owe them more and they owe us some answers. i couldn't agree with you more. ambassador, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> come up, the headlines, screaming scandal from government sex scandals, outrageous spending scandals. a look at government gone wild next. also a deadly winter storm. snow, ice and wind stranding thousands of holiday travelers across the nation. the latest on the storm's path coming up. bye dad.
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>> videotape from the gsa gone wild to the secret service prostitution scandal to the general petreas sex scandal, we've seen it all. >> they blew your money at a convention. >> they have run wild [rap music] >> clearly what we know now is neeley and others, in fact, stole money. >> fact that galls me the most is the hypocrisy of gsa not even following their own damn rules ♪ ain't no place better than gsa >> scandal at the agency responsible for protecting the president. >> eleven secret service agents are accused of excessive drinking and bringing prostitutes to their hotel. >> all of the secret service agents have had their security
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clearances revoked. >> the fast and furious showdown. for the first time in history, a lsu attorney general has been held in contempt of congress. just when you think they couldn't possibly go any further over the edge, they come up with something like this. >> today's makes for good political for some but a vast effort and grave disservice to the american people. >> and attorney general eric holder's action toss not constitute a crime and thus he will not be prosecuted. >> we lost four diplomats. our ambassador was killed. this is a tragedy. outrageous. >> what sparked the recent violence was the airing on the internet of a very hate full, very offensive video. >> the story he told on the 15th of september was completely out of line with
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reality on the ground. >> for the united states government to say that it was simply a spontaneous act flies in the face of the facts. >> it happened in benghazi was a terrorist attack. >> the administration has to come clean. what happened before, what happened during the attack and then they have to explain how they misled the american people and the world what really went down in benghazi. >> general petreas made himself blackmail material. what did the white house know and when did he know it? >> the benghazi attack has put a lot of pressure on the white house and a lot of pressure on senior white house officials like general petreas. this is a complete surprise, though. ♪ lady ♪ hey sexy lady >> now he's under fire for this rap from a decade ago with these
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lyrics. kill those blank yankees who have been torturing iraq captives. >> he gave this guy an audience with the president of the united states for somebody who is advokating, the death of americans and their family members. >> more on that guy later. but my co-host on the five, and he wrote the book, the best-seller, i might add, the joy of hate. thanks for being with us tonight. >> my pleasure. >> let's walk down memory lane and start off with the gsa scandal. taxpayers' money wasted there. $820,000 spent on a mind reader, a clown and a comedian. >> yeah. you know, there's some valuable, valuable lessons to be learned here and one thing is the by-product of any bureaucracy is they are going to use your money and use your money poorly. the other thing is this is a victory for modesty.
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because everybody who got hurt in this whole thing was because they were doing something that was attention seeking. like rapping in a corporate video, which no one should ever do. this is disgusting behavior. and the pictures of being in a hot tub with wine always seems like a good idea and you add the gold chain that's resting in gray hair, it's not a pretty sight. and the conspiracy, this scandal took off because it had all these visuals. and visuals fuel stories like these and they are all based on people basically showing off and showing off on your dime. but i again, again, i must say, never do a rap video, never do rap in a corporate video. it is wrong, it is immoral. >> and you sammy your family. >> you shame everybody. i'm ashamed, namely by you. >> that's on a daily basis. >> yes. >> let's talk about the secret service. one of the best institutions took a big hit this year. >> yeah. >> with the scandal involving prostitution, not paying the bill and, of course, then the
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prostitute went forward to out them. >> yes. the lesson is when you are in a foreign country where prostitution is legal, you know, don't skimp. basically one guy was being a cheapskate and ruined it for everybody. the other lesson here, though, again, with the scandal, without sex, the media doesn't care. and in my opinion the secret service scandal was small potatoes compared to legitimate horrible stuff like fast and furious and benghazi. but the fact is once you put sex into any -- any scandal, the media dives for it and it is why the media, they are so hypocritical because they always act high and mighty but how they always want to go for the big stories. but in reality they are as low rent as anybody else. >> and don't mess with a latino. the columbia girl was i don't think so, i don't care if he's secret service, i'm going to tell. never good idea to skip out on the room service bill either.
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>> only you can say that, kimberly. i wouldn't know. >> now we have a more serious matter. the fast and furious, we talked about it a lot on our show. this is on ongoing investigation. one of the biggest stories of the year, no doubt. >> yes, but here's the issue. people died but there were a lot of people that continued to say it was no big deal and the reason why they were saying it was no big deal was for two reasons. one, because it affect add president that they really like, and remember, the media helped elect president obama, and they helped him stay a elected and one of the reasons was dismissing stuff like that. and the second thing, it's fox news dismissal syndrome, fnds. when it shows up on fox news and it is reported, then the other networks go it's not a story. you get the weird irony that people in the media are hoping that the american people are ignorant t used to be the media would say if only we had a more educated public. now they are getting educated on
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the story, and, no, it's not a story. >> this is a very serious case obviously. a lot of people disheart ended there wasn't a more thorough investigation and sitting on documents and not coming forward with what the american people needed to know. and benghazi, this story is still going on, the investigation, who is going to testify, who is not. and still more questions than answers. >> amazing. there is a guy in jail because of a video that was blamed for these riots and for this horrible, horrible tragedy. the real scandal is why did they push this video? and if one person could just answer that question. it wasn't a mistake. they did it on purpose. was it because they wanted get president obama about off the hook for his statements about al-qaeda in who knows. susan rice isn't the story. hillary's head injury isn't a story although it's a strange part of the story. the real scandal is who pushed
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the video and why the media? the media became the three monkeys combined. they saw no evil, they heard no evil and they spoke no evil. they took themselves out of the story and nothing is a big deal to them when it happens to obama. and two more, general petreas resigning after the scandal. >> the lesson is don't have a hot biographer. again, the petreas element to this is a sideshow but it wasn't a sideshow to the media because the media felt it was at this t. >> and why is anyone paying attention to this creep? it's a scandal he's considered talented. i would not share a hot tub with him, as kimberly said to me before this segment started. >> you know i love the hot tub.
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>> the problem is he has cache because he rapid anti-american lyrics. once you start talking about america in a negative way, that you gain leverage and respect in the entertainment community. he may act like he's story and maybe he is sorry but this helped him. >> and why did our president shake hands and legitimize him as an entertainer when he talks with killing blank yankees. >> the reason he did it because of the critics. he didn't do it because he thought it was okay to do it, he thought if fox news and everyone thinks it's negative, then i'm not going to listen to it. >> coming up, deadly winter weather across the nation. snow, ice, even tornadoes hitting during this busy travel week. latest on the dangerous storm track. that's next. and in two minutes, a solution to the fiscal cliff may be brewing. but wait until you hear where the latest push is coming from. you will be surprised.
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>> starbucks sending a strong message to lawmakers who can't seem to compromise to avoid the fiscal cliff. employees are writing the word "come together" on company's coffee cups. starbucks said it's a message to lawmakers about avoiding the fiscal cliff. they said the elected officials have been unable to come together and compromise. he hopes the coffee cups encourage them to come to common ground. it's the first time starbucks has sent a political message. in 2011 they asked people to stop making campaign contributions until they found a way to deal with the debt crisis. in the next few days don't be surprised if the latte comes with a little bit of politics. we are back in two minutes.
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>> could a dive off the fiscal cliff be a good thing? that's in 60 seconds. first the headlines. >> hi, kimberly. we are closely following the situation with president h.w. bush who is described as being in guarded condition. a family spokesperson said he is alert and talking with medical staff and is surround by his family. doctors decided after a series of setbacks, including a persistent fever, to go ahead and admit him to the intense of care unit sunday. doctors are being cautiously optimistic about the course of treatment. the 88-year-old former president was admitted back on december 23rd with pron kite tis. they said in mid-november the president was expected to be home from the hospital in time for christmas. i'm mary ann rapertty.
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now back to fox news. for your latest headlines log ton to foxnews.com. the nation is on edge. everyone fearing a dive off the fiscal cliff. almost everyone. one economist said we need to go over the cliff. he's a senior fellow for the manhattan institute and he joins us. thank you for being with us tonight. this is an interesting colleague. and one of my colleagues said go over the cliff, it's the only way we will reign in the reckless spending that has no regard for the americans who are working very hard every day for the paychecks. and they are apray. they are afraid the paycheck will be further dwindled away come next year when this electorate is unable to come to a responsible compromise. >> i think that's totally right, kimberly. in november we voted for obama's super size government. so what is the fiscal cliff? the fiscal cliff is the check. it's the tab after the buffet of all that spending. so the irony is everyone in the beltway thinks it's so terrible
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we are going over the fiscal cliff because it's so irresponsible. well, ironically it's the opposite. the whole point of the fiscal cliff is when the fiscal cliff is cleared and we jump over it, we are getting rid of all the accounting game mix, the temporary stings of things that allow congress to pretend it's being fiscally responsible when it's not. what's going to happen? a lot of taxes will go up but taxes will go up on everybody, not injure the guy around the tree that's paying for everything but everyone will have to pay. and then folks will realize the government we are voting for costs us money too. >> that's the thing. if we don't go over the cliff and they don't reach a compromise, what will happen? they can't afford to keep spending like this. won't spending have to go down by virtue after compromise not being reached? spending will go down a little bit because of the sequester and 9 defense spending, what you talked about on the show quite a bit. a big chunk comes from tax increases. little the end of the unemployment benefits of that been going on for a while, the
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payroll tax holiday and the alternative minimum tax which is going to grab more and more people. you will have less subsidies for lower income people who are unemployed today and higher tax on middle income americans. it's not great. none of us want tax increases but at the end of the day trillion dollars deficits are bad, too. trillion dollars deficits every year as far as the eye can see, that's a tax on our kids, our grandchildren, on people who have saved their whole lives and done the responsible things. trillion dollars deficits are a tax, too, and that's what we have to understand. >> it's not good leadership to pass the buck, especially on future generations. they don't deserve to pay for our problems ander responsibility. what do you think is the biggest problem with raising taxes on the wealthy? it's so easy for them to say raise the taxes on the rich, punish them? >> well, the president likes to say the rich needs to pay their fair share for the tax burden of the united states. the funny thing is, actually 23 you look at all the developed countries in the world, the u.s.
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tax code is the most progressive in the entire world. the wealthiest americans pay the largest share of the tax burden in the u.s., much more so than in european countries. >> the boehner plan b and the some of the things the president wants to do, it would make the problem a lot worse. if wealthiest americans pay that much more of the tax code, what happens? the middle class feels they can have the spending and not pay for it themselves. going over the fiscal cliff, at least, we are all sharing in the responsibility for paying for the big government we seem to want. >> and a lot of disappointment by boehner's bill not being able to be passed in the house. we will see what happens in the next few days before 2013 hits us and probably hits us hard. thank you so much for being with us. >> my pleasure, kimberly, nice to see you. >> straight ahead, tornadoes in the south and belied starred warnings from the midwest to the northeast. it is stopping holiday travelers
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in their tracks. the latest on the storm's path next.
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>> this is a fox news weather alert. tornadoes, snow, ice and gusty winds. a deadly winter storm making it's way across the country. dozens of tornadoes touching down on the gulf coast states. more than 30 twisters reported from texas to alabama. a giant funnel cloud in mobile, alabama was caught on camera. fallen trees blamed for several deaths in the golf region and knocking out power to thousands. tonight the same storm bringing heavy snow and high winds from the midwest to the northeast. more than a foot of snow falling in some places. and all this week he had weather making the roads and the skies very dangerous. tonight from coast-to-coast thousands of holiday travelers
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are stranded. accuweather meteorologist justin is tracking the storm and he's here with the latest. justin. >> kimberly, this storm definitely one for the record books. thousands of miles at one point at the height of the storm on christmas day. blizzard conditions over 900 miles. a white christmas for oklahomans and texans. the worst of the storm is impacting the upper midwest and northeast. and upstate new york we will see a heavy swath of snow from albany to portions of around new hampshire. and outside of the i-95 corridor cities. philadelphia, d.c., new york city, boston. it's all right for you but we will still see backups at the airports. and backups up to 2, 3 hours.
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we aren't out of the woods until late thursday. here's the snow swath. this impacts the interior pennsylvania, new york state, icy mixture from harrisburg into some of the suburbs around new york city and boston. the worst of the weather off to the west. cold conditions continue into our thursday. windchills running into the teens and also the 20s. you will definitely want to bundle up. here's the total snowfall accumulations. this is what matters the most from buffalo to albany, points north and east. well over a foot of snow. points off to the south, lighter accumulations. this is a nasty storm system. not only the storm, but like you said, we have seen many reports of tornadoes as well. >> a lot of people concerned about that. thanks for the update. they have travel plans and want to know if they are going to make it. coming up, your last call. it is supposed to be funny, but is it just cold? a prank that has people jumping
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